Wall safe

ABSTRACT

A wall safe is provided having an improved cooperation of the structural configurations of the door and of the walls of the opening which is closed by the door whereby the safe is made highly resistant to attempted entry by forcing the door. The door is substantially rectangular and when it is in closed position the margins of the door substantially throughout their entire length are overlapped by recesses along the margins of the opening that is closed by the door. This is accomplished by a door which slides laterally so that it may be slid into locked position with opposite margins inserted in recesses in combination with flanges along the other two margins of the door which extend normally with respect to the face of the door and penetrate into recesses in the safe opening while at the same time permitting lateral movement of the door. With this construction it is essentially impossible for a tool to get a grip behind the door in an attempt to pry it open.

United States Patent 1 Teleky 1 Feb. 13, 1973 1 WALL SAFE Walter Teleky,6050 Blvd. East, West New York, NJ. 07093 [22] Filed: June 18,1971

[21] Appl. No.: 154,362

[76] Inventor:

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 8/1932 Pyle ..l09/59UX12/1969 Teleky ..109/58 Primary Examiner-David J. Williamowsky AssistantExaminer-Philip C. Kannan Attorneyl-loward Natter and Seth Natter wil I[57] ABSTRACT A wall safe is provided having an improved cooperation ofthe structural configurations of the door and of the walls of theopening which is closed by the door whereby the safe is made highlyresistant to attempted entry by forcing the door. The door issubstantially rectangular and when it is in closed position the marginsof the door substantially throughout their entire length are overlappedby recesses along the margins of the opening that is closed by the door.This is accomplished by a door which slides laterally so that it may beslid into locked position with opposite margins inserted in recesses incombination with flanges along the other two margins of the door whichextend normally with respect to the face of the door and penetrate intorecesses in the safe opening while at the same time permitting lateralmovement of the door. With this construction it is essentiallyimpossible for a tool to get a grip behind the door in an attempt to pryit open.

3 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures PMENTEDFEB13 I975 SHEET 10F 2 FIG.2

INVENTOR HALTER TELEKY PATENTEDFEB13 197s SHEET 2 OF 2 INVENTQR WALTERTE LE KY WALL SAFE FIELD OF INVENTION This invention relates to wallsafes and more especially relates to wall safes for the storage ofmoney, jewelry and other valuables. The wall safe is especially suitablefor installation in motels and hotels for the temporary safekeeping ofvaluables against theft.

This invention is adapted to be employed with the wall safe disclosed inmy US. Pat. No. 3,481 ,288.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION While stopping at a motel or hotel thesafekeeping of valuables such as money, jewelry or papers is aconstantly recurring problem. The theft of valuables left in a motel orin a hotel room is a matter of alarming frequency. Facilities for thesafekeeping of valuables are rarely provided by motels or hotels and, ifprovided at all it is a matter of great inconvenience to have a per sonqualified and entrusted to open a large safe for the reception orwithdrawal of ones valuables. Usually the problems result in makeshiftexpedients such as hiding the valuables in luggage or in the bedding orin some out-of-the-way spot in the furniture. However, such hidingplaces provide little or'no security. Wall safes such as have been usedin residences are inconvenient and expensive for use in individual roomsof a motel or a hotel. Moreover, the provision of a key presents aproblem inasmuch as a guest provided with a key so as to make the wallsafe available for use would have an opportunity to have a duplicate keymade or he might forget to turn in the key. Moreover, in all likelihoodthe motel or hotel would have at least one other key for the same wallsafe.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION In my US. Pat. No. 3,481,288 I have disclosed awall safe which is highly effective as well as convenient for use suchas in hotels and motels. While the safe disclosed in my prior patent ishighly resistant to forcible entry, it is an object of the presentinvention to provide even greater effectiveness in preventing forcibleentry.

More specifically, the objective of greater resistance to forcible entryis obtained by the employment of a substantially rectangular door incombination with the opening that is closed by the door such that whenthe door is locked in closed position there is asubstantial amount ofoverlap of the outer surface of the door along substantially the entirelength of each of the margins of the door. In other words, there issubstantial spacing of each of the edges of the door from the exposedsurface of the door that is not covered by the overlap with the resultthat when the door is locked in place there is no point along theperiphery of the door at which a cold chisel, screwdriver or the likemay be forced in so as to get a grip on a transverse edge face of thedoor in attempting to pry it open. In this way additional security isprovided that is highly effective even against a thief equipped with thetools of a professional burglar.

The protective overlap along two of the margins of the door is affordedin accordance with the construction shown and described in my U.S. Pat.No. 3,481,288. According to this construction a bodily removable door isprovided which is put in place in the opening of the receptacle byinserting one of the margins of the door in a recess which is disposedalong one of the walls of the opening and which has substantial depth insubstantial parallelism with the plane of the opening. While said marginis inserted in said recess the opposite margin is swung intojuxtaposition with a recess in the opposite wall of the opening, whichlikewise has substantial depth in substantial parallelism with the planeof the opening. By then moving the door laterally without, however,removing the door margin from the recess first penetrated, both of theopposite margins of the door become overlapped by the recesses in theopposite walls of the opening. Lock means is provided for locking thedoor in this position and preferably actuation of the lock automaticallyaccomplishes the desired lateral movement of the door.

In accordance with the improvement of this invention, a substantialamount of overlap likewise is provided along the extent of the other twomargins of the door. To this end a flange extends rearwardly from theother two margins of the door in a plane substantially normal to theplane of the door and each flange is adapted to penetrate a recess whichis in each of the other two walls of the safe opening and which hassubstantial depth in a plane that is substantially normal to the planeof the opening. These flanges do not interfere with the placing of thedoor in position to close the receptacle opening in the manner aforesaidsince they permit lateral movement of the door into its locked position.These flanges preferably are in the form of an integral extension of theface of the door. However, they also may be in the form of separateparts securely fixed to the door margin as by welding. When the door islocked in position the flanges are overlapped by the recesses in whichthey are inserted so as to provide the said overlap along these twomargins as well as the other two margins. There is no marginal edge ofthe door that is not protected by an overlap.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Further objects, features andadvantages of this invention will become apparent from the followingdescription of the illustrative embodiment of this invention that isshown in the accompanying drawings,

. wherein:

FIG. 1 is an end elevation of a pair of wall safes embodying this,invention permanently secured to opposite sides of a wall by securingmeans which passes through the wall;

FIG. 2 is a front elevation of a single wall safe embodying theinvention with a portion broken away to show the construction of thewall in relation to a portion of the door;

FIG. 3 is a side view of the wall safe that is partially in sectionalong the line 3--3 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken on the line 4-4 of FIG. 2 and on alarger scale showing the forward portion of the wall safe andillustrating the manner of putting the door in place and into lockedposition;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the door with the lock mechanismremoved; and

FIG. 6 is an enlarged detail side section showing the upper portion ofthe safe opening with the door in place.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT FIG. 1 illustrates atypical utilization of the wall safe of this invention in a hotel ormotel. Two safes and 10A are disposed on opposite sides of the wall 11.They are held together by one or more tie bolts 12 which pass throughthe wall. Ordinarily the heads 13 of the bolt 12 are renderedunremovable, as for example by welding. When secured to the wall in thismanner each of the safes is secured in place in such manner that theycannot be removed without destroying the wall.

The safe as illustrated in the drawings comprises the receptacle portion14 which is suitable for the reception of valuables and which has asubstantially rectangular opening adapted for the insertion andwithdrawal of valuables. The receptacle ordinarily is made of steel andhas no opening other than that which is closed by the door. The sidewalls of the opening are in the form of vertical frame members 15 whichare permanently secured to the receptacle 14 by some suitable means suchas welding 16. Each of the frame members 15 has an elongated recess 17that has substantial depth in a plane parallel to the plane of theopening and which is dimensioned to receive one of the side margins of adoor 18. The door 18 is preferably fabricated of a single panel havingparallel vertical edges defined by a pair of transverse edge faces 26,28 which extend substantially perpendicular to the general plane of thepanel. Adjacent the upper and lower ends of the door 18, the panelincludes a rearwardly inturned flange 21, the distal-edges of each ofwhich is defined by a transverse edge face 21a (extending transverselyto the plane of the flange).

The upper and lower walls of the opening are provided by frame members19, which likewise are permanently secured to the receptacle 14. Theframe members 15, 19, are preferably of one piece construction as shownin FIG. 2 and are secured in the receptacle as a unitary frame assembly.Each of these frame 19 members has a guard recess 20 which extends alongthe longitudinal extent thereof and which has substantial depthsubstantially normal to the plane of the receptacle opening. Theserecesses 20 are adapted to receive the flanges 21 which extendrearwardly from adjacent the top and bottom, respectively, of the door18.

The door 18 in preferred embodiments is bodily removable and hingeless.It is provided with a lock mechanism 22 on the back surface thereofwhich is actuatable from in front of the door by means of a key which isinsertable in and withdrawable from a keyhole 23. The key 24 is shown inplace in FIG. 4. It is actuata- 'ble to effect the protrusion of the abolt 25 from the lock mechanism 22 to the position shown in solid linesin FIG. 4 and to effect its retraction to the position shown in dottedlines in FIG. 4. When the bolt has been retracted the door key isremovable.

FIG. 4 also illustrates the manner of putting the door in place andremovingit again. Prior to putting the door in place the lock mechanism22 is actuated by the key 24 to position the bolt 25 in retractedposition. The transverse edge face 26 of the door is inserted into therecess 17 to the position shown in dot and dash lines in FIG. 4. It isto be noted that the innermost interior wall 27 of the recess 17 isinclined so as to permit the insertion of a marginal zone the door whilethe plane of the door is at a substantial angle to the plane of theopening of the receptacle. In positioning the door in this manner thevertical disposition of the door is such that the flanges 21 of the doorpenetrate into the recesses 20 in the frame members 19 at the upper andlower walls of the opening. The door is then swung about with theright-hand recess 17 as a pivot until the transverse edge face 28 of thedoor comes into juxtaposition with the recess 17 in the frame at theleft side of the opening. The door then is in position such that it ismovable laterally to the left until it comes to the position shown insolid lines in FIG. 4 and in FIGS. 2 and 3. This can be done withoutactuating the lock mechanism. However, in ordinary usage the lateralmovement is powered at least in substantial part by manually actuatingthe key to cause the bolt 25 to move to the protruding solid lineposition shown in FIG. 4.When this movement is effected the end of thebolt 25 is pressed against an abutment 28a of the frame member 15 at theright side of the opening so as to propel the door to the left. Theleftward movement of the door is limited by the stop 29 which comes intoopposed relation with an abutment 30 of the opposite frame member 15 asshown in FIG. 4. It will be appreciated that the length of the recess 20is greater than the width of the door to permit sliding movement of theflange 21 within the recess 20 when the door is inserted into or removedfrom the opening. If the key 24 is removed when the bolt 25 is shown inthe extended position in FIG. 4, the door is locked in place so that itcannot be moved laterally in either direction without using the key. Italso is to be noted that the lateral extent of the door 18 is such thata substantial peripheral zone along the outer surface of the door 18adjacent each of the transverse edge faces 26 and 28 is overlapped by areceptacle face 32 of the frame members 15 with the peripheral zonesseated in the recesses 17. Thus the door is effectively retained andcannot be removed. Moreover, the innermost side walls of the recesses 17extend perpendicular to the plane of the door panel to provide a stopwhich prevents the door from being pushed inwardly as does a shoulder 33of the frame 19 which also abuts the inner face of the door.

Since the transverse edge face 21a of the flanges 21 penetrate into theguard recesses 20 along the upper and lower walls, respectively, of thesafe opening, there is a substantial amount of overlap of the flanges 21along substantially the entire length of said flanges which in turnextend along substantially the entire length of the upper and lowermargins of the door. Since the outer surface of the door alongsubstantially the entire length of the side margins thereof likewise areoverlapped by the faces 32 of the frame members 15, the door along theentire peripheral margin thereof is overlapped to a substantial extentand so that at no point along said peripheral margin is it possible fora tool to get a grip on a transverse edge portion of the door much lessget any tool behind the door to wedge or pry the door outward byapplying a force on the rear face thereof. The door is thereby renderedextremely difficult to open by any means short of physical destructionof the safe itself. At the same time the door is such that its removaland replacement may readily be accomplished by a guest at a hotel ormotel who is provided with a key that is capable of actuating the lockmechanism.

I claim:

1. A wall safe for the fortified storage of valuables, said safecomprising a walled receptacle, means forming a substantiallyrectangular opening in said receptacle, a door selectively closing saidopening to preclude access to the receptacle interior, said doorincluding a substantially rectangular panel having an inturned flangeadjacent each of two opposed edges, said flange extending beyond thepanel thickness, the safe further including a frame assembly secured insaid receptacle adjacent the opening, the frame assembly having firstand second pairs of substantially parallel frame members, the first pairperpendicularly intersecting the second pair at mutual terminal ends ofeach member, each of the members of the first pair including stop meansabutting the rear of the door on opposite sides of the opening, the stopmeans preventing movement of the door toward the receptacle interior,said stop means being positioned rearwardly of the receptacle opening,means forming a recess 17 in cooperation with the receptacle along saidopposite sides of the opening and adjacent said stop means, meansforming a receptacle face overlying each recess, each face overlapping aperipheral zone of the door with each zone seated in a correspondingrecess when the door is in a position closing the opening, each of themembers of the second pair of frame members including means forming aguard recess 20, each guard recess including substantially parallelwalls extending perpendicular to the plane of the opening and withinwhich one of the flanges is seated, the flanges being of uniformthickness and extending perpendicular to the plane of the door, thedistance between the guard recess walls being only slightly greater thanthe thickness of the flange, yet permitting sliding movement of theflanges for insertion or removal of the door, the door being placed inits position protectively closing the opening by inserting one of thezones in one of the recesses of the first pair of members, with theplane of the door at an acute angle to the plane of the opening,pivoting the door at the one recess to a position parallel to the planeof the opening and laterally sliding the door to a position wherein theother zone is seated in the recess of the other member of the firstpair, the door further including lock means to selectively precludelateral sliding movement of the door to prevent removal of the door,whereby unauthorized forcible'removal of the door with a pryingimplement is prevented.

2. A wall safe constructed in accordance with claim 1 wherein theflanges are formed in one piece construction with the door panel.

3. A wall safe constructed in accordance with claim 1 wherein weld meanssecuring the frame assembly to the receptacle is provided.

1. A wall safe for the fortified storage of valuables, said safecomprising a walled receptacle, means forming a substantiallyrectangular opening in said receptacle, a door selectively closing saidopening to preclude access to the receptacle interior, said doorincluding a substantially rectangular panel having an inturned flangeadjacent each of two opposed edges, said flange extending beyond thepanel thickness, the safe further including a frame assembly secured insaid receptacle adjacent the opening, the frame assembly having firstand second pairs of substantially parallel frame members, the first pairperpendicularly intersecting the second pair at mutual terminal ends ofeach member, each of the members of the first pair including stop meansabutting the rear of the door on opposite sides of the opening, the stopmeans preventing movement of the door toward the receptacle interior,said stop means being positioned rearwardly of the receptacle opening,means forming a recess 17 in cooperation with the receptacle along saidopposite sides of the opening and adjacent said stop means, meansforming a receptacle face overlying each recess, each face overlapping aperipheral zone of the door with each zone seated in a correspondinGrecess when the door is in a position closing the opening, each of themembers of the second pair of frame members including means forming aguard recess 20, each guard recess including substantially parallelwalls extending perpendicular to the plane of the opening and withinwhich one of the flanges is seated, the flanges being of uniformthickness and extending perpendicular to the plane of the door, thedistance between the guard recess walls being only slightly greater thanthe thickness of the flange, yet permitting sliding movement of theflanges for insertion or removal of the door, the door being placed inits position protectively closing the opening by inserting one of thezones in one of the recesses of the first pair of members, with theplane of the door at an acute angle to the plane of the opening,pivoting the door at the one recess to a position parallel to the planeof the opening and laterally sliding the door to a position wherein theother zone is seated in the recess of the other member of the firstpair, the door further including lock means to selectively precludelateral sliding movement of the door to prevent removal of the door,whereby unauthorized forcible removal of the door with a pryingimplement is prevented.
 1. A wall safe for the fortified storage ofvaluables, said safe comprising a walled receptacle, means forming asubstantially rectangular opening in said receptacle, a door selectivelyclosing said opening to preclude access to the receptacle interior, saiddoor including a substantially rectangular panel having an inturnedflange adjacent each of two opposed edges, said flange extending beyondthe panel thickness, the safe further including a frame assembly securedin said receptacle adjacent the opening, the frame assembly having firstand second pairs of substantially parallel frame members, the first pairperpendicularly intersecting the second pair at mutual terminal ends ofeach member, each of the members of the first pair including stop meansabutting the rear of the door on opposite sides of the opening, the stopmeans preventing movement of the door toward the receptacle interior,said stop means being positioned rearwardly of the receptacle opening,means forming a recess 17 in cooperation with the receptacle along saidopposite sides of the opening and adjacent said stop means, meansforming a receptacle face overlying each recess, each face overlapping aperipheral zone of the door with each zone seated in a correspondinGrecess when the door is in a position closing the opening, each of themembers of the second pair of frame members including means forming aguard recess 20, each guard recess including substantially parallelwalls extending perpendicular to the plane of the opening and withinwhich one of the flanges is seated, the flanges being of uniformthickness and extending perpendicular to the plane of the door, thedistance between the guard recess walls being only slightly greater thanthe thickness of the flange, yet permitting sliding movement of theflanges for insertion or removal of the door, the door being placed inits position protectively closing the opening by inserting one of thezones in one of the recesses of the first pair of members, with theplane of the door at an acute angle to the plane of the opening,pivoting the door at the one recess to a position parallel to the planeof the opening and laterally sliding the door to a position wherein theother zone is seated in the recess of the other member of the firstpair, the door further including lock means to selectively precludelateral sliding movement of the door to prevent removal of the door,whereby unauthorized forcible removal of the door with a pryingimplement is prevented.
 2. A wall safe constructed in accordance withclaim 1 wherein the flanges are formed in one piece construction withthe door panel.